1st I know CAP officers do not meet the same standard as AF or other DOD officers.

Having said that I sometimes wonder if we had a educational requirement (BS / BA Degree) for our officers and some type of commission course if we could have the same status as a uniformed service. Notice I say uniformed not military. I think it is noteworthy there are 7 uniformed services, only 5 are military yet they all wear uniforms, have standards and serve the country.

I have a friend who is a LT in the USPHS and I believe his comissioning course was a week long (kind of like staff college). He has a CAC card and the same status as a naval officer, in fact he is confused for a naval officer a lot. DOD sticker on his car. Full AAFES or Naval exchange service use.

My point is we could increase our status without being a military member if we raise our standards.